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The present invention relates to ambulation aids, and in particular ambulation aids for children.
A variety of different devices have been developed to aid handicapped patients. Wheelchairs are well known to most people, with large wheels and a seat, with the patient pushing the wheels to move forward. Perhaps less well known are devices for supporting a patient in a standing position. This is important because physical therapists often desire a patient to be in a weight-bearing position for a certain amount of time each day to maintain bone density and for other reasons. Such devices typically support the patient around the waist and chest, and have much smaller wheels, or casters. They have a platform for the feet, rather than a seat for the patient to sit on. Some, however, have a bicycle-type seat to allow the patient to periodically rest and take some of the weight off the patient""s feet.
Another type of device is an ambulation aid, which does not have a support for the user""s feet, since the user will walk with the ambulation aid. One example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,426. These aids typically support a patient while standing or walking, yet allow sitting with a seat, similar to the standing aids described above. They allow forward movement, while supporting the patient at the hips and chest. Typically, they have casters or small wheels, unlike wheelchairs.
It is desirable for such ambulation aids to be fairly open in front, allowing the patient to get close to tables or people and to interact with them using the patient""s arms and hands, without having part of the support structure in front interfering with such interaction.
The inventors have noticed in their work with different ambulation aids that they are often bulky and difficult to maneuver in narrow hallways and other confined areas. In addition, the devices tend to jerk sideways as the user attempts to move forward. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved design of an ambulation aid which is more maneuverable.
Self-directed mobility has the potential to augment early development by expanding a child""s world to distances beyond arm""s reach and providing a myriad of new opportunities for manipulating objects and interacting with people in the environment. Children who have a significant mobility impairment which prevents them from achieving independent mobility are thus at a great disadvantage relative to their able-bodied peers. Although young children with cerebral palsy may be able to achieve upright mobility by using assisted mobility devices such as push walkers and supported walkers, these mobility aids have not been designed to meet their needs. In particular, walkers on the market today are difficult to maneuver in the indoor environment of home and school where young children spend the majority of their day. Walker maneuverability is limited by a number of factors, such as large turning radius, casters that do not move over a variety of surfaces, and hardware placed between the feet which reduces the ability to position the legs for maneuvering the walker. The child""s manipulation of objects in the environment is severely limited or precluded by the hardware on the walker that is placed in front of the child which makes it difficult or impossible for the child get close enough to objects to touch them.
The present invention provides an ambulation aid which has a support structure for the patient that both supports the patient""s weight, and is movable laterally with respect to the frame to accommodate sideways hip movement of the patient""s gait. The inventors have observed that a patient""s hip and trunk will shift laterally as the patient steps forward and places weight on the forward stepping leg. This causes prior art ambulation aids to jerk sideways. The present invention overcomes this by providing a support structure which can move sideways without requiring the entire frame to move sideways. In one embodiment, the support structure slides in a track behind the patient, allowing lateral movement. In another embodiment, the support structure includes a belt which either slides through rollers behind the patient, or is attached but is flexible to allow hip movement, or is attached to a slider behind the patient. In one embodiment, the support structure is spring-biased to return the support mechanism to its central position after the patient takes a step.
In another aspect of the present invention, a swiveling seat is provided. This allows the forward-projecting part of a bicycle-type seat to move sideways and get out of the way of the user""s leg when moving forward. The seat has an unusually wide back surface for supporting the weight of the patient, and also for acting as a moment-arm to cause the swiveling of the seat as it presses up against the non-moving hip of the patient during walking.
In one embodiment, the present invention also includes a removable foot support to allow the device to act as both an ambulation aid and a standing aid. Additionally, the support structure is constructed so that the majority is behind the patient, to allow an open front and easy access by the patient to tables and other people in front of the patient.
In one embodiment, the ambulation aid includes a either a small wheel or a large, wheelchair-type wheel on either side, with the axle of the wheel being within four inches of the body weight vector of the patient. This makes the turning radius of the device closer to the axis of the patient""s body, making it more maneuverable. In addition, the larger wheel can be gripped by the user to aid in moving forward or to hold one wheel during turning to aid in pivoting. Additionally, a large wheel moves over carpet and other irregular surfaces better than casters or small wheels. Also, a long-arm brake is provided, allowing the user to easily stop one wheel during a turn with the brake.
For further understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.